Impact of Sporting Activities on the (2021) Journalofcmsd Volume 6(1)) Environment in Kenya: Proposal for a Specific Policy on Sports and Environment: Caroline Shisubili Maingi & Mercury Shitindo Impact of Sporting Activities on the Environment in Kenya: Proposal for a Specific Policy on Sports and Environment By: Caroline Shisubili Maingi* & Mercury Shitindo* Abstract Sport is a necessary part of life that is intricately interconnected to the environment. On one hand, sports need a good environment to be played on whilst at the same time, sports through its activities affects the environment. When the world was hit with a global pandemic in 2019, sports was one of the areas that was most affected. With the encouragement of social and physical distance as a means of reducing infection rates and limiting physical contact in sports, it also acted as a period of restoration of the environment. This article emphasizes how sport promotes good health, physical fitness, mental well-being, social interaction and contributes to the socio-economic, political and cultural development of a country. The article highlights how sports can attract infrastructure that requires heavy machinery that can impact the environment negatively, this in addition to the economic activities linked to it, and how this directly affects man. The article delves into sports in Kenya identifying how there are no clear guidelines on how to do sports while taking care of the environment. The study will recommend policies that will encourage a balance between having sports while also giving consideration to the environment. 1. Introduction Sport, like any other human activity, is set in the physical environment and is bound to have effects on it and be affected by it. Sport is a major component of society, but as one of its effects, it also impinges on the environment1. Most environmental problems are deeply rooted in conditions * PhD International Relations Student at USIU-A, MA Philosophy and Ethics from Strathmore University. * Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Manager Africa International University, P.O Box 24686, 00502, Nairobi-Kenya 1 Abhi., Impact of Sport on Environment. 2015. 55 Impact of Sporting Activities on the (2021) Journalofcmsd Volume 6(1)) Environment in Kenya: Proposal for a Specific Policy on Sports and Environment: Caroline Shisubili Maingi & Mercury Shitindo and actions directed to it, therefore the interaction of the sporting activities with the environment must be viewed with a keen eye, with the intent of ensuring that there is benefit of all. Since the concepts of sport and environment are intertwined, there is need for the issues arising to be addressed simultaneously. Mccullough notes that the active participation in sport and physical activity in and of itself has an environmental impact adding that likewise, watching sport or spectating, whether at home or at an event has an impact as well, since consuming sport through spectating is much more about an emotional experience, i.e. An intangible experience which has tangible and actual impacts on the natural environment.2 The bilateral relationship between sport and environment, whereby the impact of environment on sport is more profound and direct as it influences the planning of certain sporting events depending on how appropriate the venue is in terms of climate and the physical environment. The Brundtland Commission, in 1987, defined a “sustainable society” as one that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This definition calls upon mankind to harmonize its activities on earth and thus environment with the aim of achieving a sustainable development3. It is on this premise that this study seeks to demonstrate a link between sporting activities and the impact they have on the environment and how these impacts have created the need to reduce the ecological footprint of sports activities. This study finds evidence that there is no direct policy guiding how sports should be handled with regard to the environment, an area that is usually overtaken by current events, usually political. It is therefore, appropriate to bring together sports and environment and identify sport management practices that promote https://www.sportskeeda.com/sports/detailed-look-impact-sports-environment 2 McCullough, B. P. "Introduction to environmental sport management." (2015). 3 World Commission on Environment and Development, and Gro Harlem Brundtland. Presentation of the Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development to the Commission of the European Communities, the EC and EFTA Countries... 5 May 1987, Brussels. World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987. 56 Impact of Sporting Activities on the (2021) Journalofcmsd Volume 6(1)) Environment in Kenya: Proposal for a Specific Policy on Sports and Environment: Caroline Shisubili Maingi & Mercury Shitindo environmental sustainability. This study seeks to recommend policies that will address the gap. The study will provide a historical background of sports, the relationship of sport and environment, highlight the issues arising from the practice of sport amidst current views of sustainability in sport, and provide an overview of sporting in Kenya, current policies in Kenya followed by an in depth analysis of the problem and bring in the aspect of how sporting activities have been affected by the COVID 19 pandemic and how this has affected the environment and the sporting world. Finally, we offer a recommendation to policy and suggest ways of balancing sporting activities with the intention to minimize sports impact on the natural environment while achieving common objectives. 2. Brief historical background on sports Sports and sporting events are as old as the existence of humanity. This results from the fact that sports form part of social cultural events. Man in nature, reaches out to the other to manifest themselves, and in so doing, discover themselves and more often, become more, by doing ‘things’ with the other. Etymologically, the English word ‘sport’ has its roots in old Latin, ‘deportare’ which means to divert oneself or have fun4. Diverting oneself refers to change of activity from the normal usual one to another one, usually lesser in intensity; and coupled with fun, may refer to the present meaning of recreation and leisure. In the olden times, some of the contests held were footraces, the long jump, diskos and javelin throwing, wrestling, the pentathlon (a combination of these five events), boxing, the pankration (a combination of wrestling and boxing), horse races, and chariot races.5 The word would evolve into ‘athletes’, to include more outdoor events such as cycling and skating, implying a paradigm shift. 4 Arda alan işik. ‘Origins of sports philosophy and Greek athletics’. Daily Sabah, April 2020 5 Hemingway, Colette, and Seán Hemingway. "Athletics in Ancient Greece." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (2002). 57 Impact of Sporting Activities on the (2021) Journalofcmsd Volume 6(1)) Environment in Kenya: Proposal for a Specific Policy on Sports and Environment: Caroline Shisubili Maingi & Mercury Shitindo The earliest recorded sporting events was from 700 BCE to 450 BCE in ancient Greece6. The games were mainly in honor of the god Zeus7. The games would later evolve into a more complex and organized event that moved from a day to three to five. As the sporting events progressed, there would be judges who checked that athletes had trained and the competing grounds were standard. In those times, one cared only to win, a notion in tandem with the word ‘athletes’ with connotes contest (athlos) and prize (Athlon), unlike in modern times where a lot more goes into the preparation, the actual games and even aftermath. Ethics and morals were observed by all the players and the spectators. In those ancient times, the games were by males only. Women were neither allowed to participate nor spectate. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the Western contexts, women were restricted, or forbidden, from participation in sport due to concerns over their perceived frailness and inability to cope with the competitive nature of sport.8 History also informs us that the participants were naked; completely nude9. This regulation has highly evolved such that women are literally involved in all types of sport. In the modern tradition of sports, the Greek ways have been professionalized. Currently, there is an array of sports gear, each team adorning in their chosen colours and each individual participant with their unique label. Sports gear enables us to identify a team, country or person, a great deal to do with identity. In addition, the sporting events are now global, involve bigger and more sophisticated infrastructure and has economic activities linked to it. Sports are also a big event in international relations. The mere fact of getting to host these games speaks a lot of what a country can do. Other than showing its might and prowess, a host country should be able to interrelate with all participating states and individuals. 6 ibid 7 Swaddling, Judith. The ancient Olympic games. University of Texas Press, 1999. 8 Coakley, J. J. 2007. Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 9 Christesen, Paul. Olympic victor lists and Ancient Greek history. Cambridge University Press, 2007. 58 Impact of Sporting Activities on the (2021) Journalofcmsd Volume 6(1)) Environment in Kenya: Proposal for a Specific Policy on Sports and Environment: Caroline Shisubili Maingi & Mercury Shitindo Ancient Olympia is where the oldest sporting events took place, in modern Greece, it hosts the lighting of Olympic lights.10 These games continued into early Christian times, inspiring the modern Olympic games. The first ones were held in Athens in 1896. For the first time as an independent country, Kenya participated in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. In Africa, the modern sporting events were introduced during the colonization period11. Sports such as football (soccer), cricket and hockey were spread by European Colonial Government as part of their civilizing and conquering programs.